Hey Ya'll, Picked up the WA7 and Tube PSU Today. Spent a couple of hours auditioning with LCD3's (I have the same at home). I LOVE my LCD3's. I actually went it to check out the Audeze Deckard Unit. This stuff is all personal taste, so all my thoughts are my own of course
Home setup Yesterday was a Lyr1 with Mullard tubes fed by a Audioengine D1 DAC. I had some issues with the mullard tubes I bought, one of them started to have a heavy pink noise that was really audible over music. (Thanks to Nick who is seriously quick on his feet early on a Saturday morning over at Schitt for some quick tips on how to identify the issue). Anyway, I had been looking for a new DAC for a while, and was about to pull the trigger on a Bifrost, but hadnt been able to hear one which was making me nervous about shelling out.
A local dealer here headphone bar is really awesome and ive been wanting to buy something from them for a while (tried to buy my lcds from them but with the breakin that happened they could get stock for a while so found a pair elsewhere). Anyway, rolled down there to check out the deckard that they had and the Bifrost and they had just brought in the Wa stuff. hadnt seen it before and man are they gorgeous. solid fit and finish but the thing that sold me was the big PSU button and the fact that when you turn the unit off, the audio drops quietly down instead of just popping out. Its little things like that make me want to reward the maker with my hard earned dollars. well done sirs. I was obviously REALLY happy with the audio as well. It reminds me a lot of the lyr with the mullards in it with just a touch more open space which I assume is the better DAC setup.
The Audeze Deckard left me a bit cold to be honest, and I really wanted to like it. Was a little less impressed with the design (front panel laser etch looks not as nice as it could) and it runs really hot. Although the build details are important to me, Nothing matters really but the audio in the end, and it was super clean but lacked the darker personality I was getting from the lyr and the wa7. seemed to really push the mids a lot harder and seemed a touch harsh to me on the highs comparatively and lacking in the same subtle detail as the wa7 and even my lyr/mullard.
Anyway I knew pretty quick this was my ticket. Too bad a had to drop almost 2k instead of almost 1k on the setup, but I couldnt be happier. I still love the lyr as well, but ill swing it over to office duty.
On a side note, anybody know if stacking the psu and dac wa7 is really bad news ? Im sure theres a bit of a heat issue, but anyone know how much? I put the psu on top as it gets the warmer of the two it seems like. let me know!